Moscow’s outcry over Louis Vuitton’s giant display
The move by Louis Vuitton to display a giant trunk in Moscow’s Red Square as part of an exhibition highlighting 25 famous personalities has come under speculation and controversy and provoked criticism from Moscow residents and politicians alike.
A replica of a vintage Vuitton trunk, nine-metres-high was the centre of attraction for a short while but after the flow of outrage from both residents and some Russian politicians arguing that it was too close to the tomb of Vladimir Lenin, a member of the Communist Party Central, Sergei Obukhov, has gone on record saying, “This is a sacred place for the Russian state. There are some symbols that cannot be trivialised or denigrated.” So, the giant eyesore according to the Russians has been dismantled and department store, Gum, which originally gave the thumbs up to the display has stepped back saying, the temporary building exceeded the “maximum parameters.”
Is that a nice way of saying, “Do as you’re told to do when in Russia?” No details yet if the event which was originally scheduled to take place on Friday will go on as planned. The brand has five operating stores in the country but it looks like more research needs to be done on the dos and don’ts when in Russia before they undertake another venture of this kind.
By
T. J. Mueller
